Death Is Only the Beginning
by KittyWillCutYou
Summary: Hello, my name is Fatima...and I'm a Turk. VincentXOc In the process of being reworked. If you want to take a look at changes and give some feed back or opinions, feel free.
1. Chapter 1

**OKay so I have revised quite a bit in this and I hope people still manage to enjoy. Please, point out any mistakes a might or have made in this, I'd appreciate it.**

**-Kitty**

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_Dear Diary,_

_"My name is Fatima and I'm a Turk. Not by choice I assure you it's just that…I don't have a choice. Okay, everyone has a choice but I'm in a bit of a tight spot here. I'm 23 years old and about…oh, I don't know 5'8", 5'9" and I guess you could call me a life-time employee for Shinra. _

_Yeah, that's surprising to most people .For me, this is how it's always been but whatever, my life isn't all bleak. I have a few close friends to keep me company (Thank Gaea!). Lucrecia Crescent for one thing. She's smart, she's gorgeous and probably one of the only white coats here that I don't mind. _

_Kimberly Parker is her name or just Kim for short. Honestly I'm not sure how this girl landed a job like this. She's short and fiery but sweet with curly, copper-toned hair and leaf-green eyes. Kim's great company when a day has gone sour and even better company when armed with a gun._

_Then…there's Vincent. His reasons for being here were mainly to act as Lucrecia's bodyguard but I believe over time, somehow, they became a bit more. It's not really any of my business but I find myself feeling a bit…jealous. He wasn't very talkative but he was…nice in his own way. _

_I spend a lot of time around Lulu when I have the time so I've gotten to know him just a little bit."_

_-Fatima_

I sighed as I shut the leather-bound journal and replaced its silver lock. Lucrecia advised me to get one so that I could have something to let my thoughts out with. I rose from the bed and looked into the mirror above my dresser where a young woman with waist-length black hair and golden eyes, stared back at me quite sourly. Tiredly, I raked a hand through my dark hair with a huff and began the ritual of donning my uniform, from blazer, to boots, to fingerless gloves.

Now I know everyone and their mother owns a pair of fingerless-gloves these days but seriously, they look so badass, and I never was very formal. The gun was standard but it wasn't like I needed much to do my job.

My boots thumped on the floor as I walked and I reviewed the recently assigned mission in my head. Dr. Howard Stein had once been a greedy white-coat. After some rather unsavory business with the boss he fled to parts unknown until now. Where do I come in? Well, that should be easy enough to guess on your own.

The wind ruffled my hair as soon as I stepped out of the mansion. A bloated silvery moon hovered in the sky and I wondered childishly what would happen if it suddenly fell. It felt good to be out again.

The mission was simple, get in, kill, get out, nothing new. What I wasn't expecting was the frail old man I found hiding in his dusty old apartment, muttering gibberish at an alarming rate. It was only after I had gotten tired of waiting for him to notice me and called his name did he acknowledge my existence.

It was as if he thought me some sort of phantom, the way his eyes glazed over. "You…" he mumbled. Honestly, I had no idea what to make of that. A scream of some sort, maybe a bit of begging for his life like most of the ones before him but not this…blank stare. I felt a bit out of my element if you know what I mean.

"You're that little girl." He stated, his eyes finally clearing of their haze. "You know why I'm here, correct?" I asked him, suddenly unable to just blow him away and leave without saying _something._ "Yes." He replied. "Kill me Tima, finish what you came for but you have to make me a promise." I snorted a bit I admit. "A promise, why should I?" Then I rethought what I had just said. "Alright, what do you want?"

The Doctor stared me down hard. It surprised me and I could only wonder if this was still the babbling fool from minutes before. He answered me and for some reason a chill settled in my bones.

"Run."

It was a simple one-worded answer and for a minute I think I forgot how to breathe. "Pull the trigger." He ordered, his voice low, no room for argument. I did as he told me without hesitation, my silenced bullet piercing stale air, straight through flesh and bone.

His body slumped, a bullet to the forehead, and I left through the window as quickly as I had come. I left not a trace. I never do. It didn't make much difference either way though. Outside of their walls, I did not exist.

"How was the job hun?" asked Kimberly with a small smile. Lucrecia, who had decided to join us for lunch, paused and began to survey me. "Not too good?" I ignored them both and continued to mess around with the food on my plate with lazy strokes of my fork.

I did not really feel like eating and kept replaying the previous events in my head, despite how brief, like a movie. "Are you feeling okay Tima?" asked Lucrecia with concern. She reached over to place her hand on my forehead but I refused to respond. With a mumbled apology, I excused myself and left the table.

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_Dear Diary,_

"_I had a strange dream. I was on a hill somewhere, under a tree. It was quiet and peaceful with little birds chirping. It was like I didn't belong there at all. I saw Lulu and she was carrying a basket. She looked so happy, like she didn't have a care in the world. _

_It seemed nice._

_I suddenly wished that I knew what she was feeling, where she was going. It wasn't any of my business though. I shut my eyes to her and tried to block it all out. It wasn't any of my business. The birds sounded like they were screaming but I refused to open my eyes._

_It wasn't any of my business."_

_-Fatima_

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I was being silly and I knew it but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen soon. Something was coming to break the monotony that had settled over my life or maybe…just maybe it was already here right under my nose. There were questions, hundreds of them, swimming around in my head but not enough answers. Eventually, I decided that I'd given myself enough of a headache and the best thing for me to do right then and there was to sleep it off.

It is really too bad but sometimes things do not always go as planned. When opened my eyes again I was…somewhere I should not have been. This was the place where the horror lived but even knowing that couldn't stop my legs from moving. "I'm supposed to find something here." My mind supplied for me. I was supposed to meet someone here soon. Kimberly came to mind but for some reason I truly hoped that she did not come.

It was like a dream.

I thought it was a dream.

I _hoped_ it was all a dream.

There was a door at the end of my tunnel vision and I hesitated, stiffening at the sound of a gunshot. Forgetting my fear, I dashed toward the door and it slid open without my aid. To this day there are times when I wish I had turned around and gone back to my room.

But I did not.

I stared down at the body for what felt like ages just taking it in. Black hair and plenty of blood but I knew exactly who it was. I paid no attention to the white-coat standing frozen just a few feet away from me, gun probably still smoking. What was his name again, Hojo? I think that is what it was. Another bullet pierced the air and grazed my left cheek but struck another target.

Slowly, I looked over my shoulder and met eyes with horrified green before they rolled back and disappeared. The entry wound between white eyes cried blood and a gun slipped from suddenly slack hands as she fell. "Kim."

I stared long and hard listening to the blood rush in my ears, trying to take it in.

Then I screamed.

I screamed until my throat felt raw and I felt tears ran hot down my cheeks. Another gunshot tore through my chest and demolished my right lung. It cut my cries off abruptly, blood pouring from my lips like a water fall.

I lost consciousness after that.

_Dear Diary,_

"_I had another strange dream. I saw Lucrecia and she was holding something in her arms…it was a bundle. It moved in her arms and she smiled at me. I wasn't sure what to say. A small hand reached out of the blanket, grabbing at one of her bangs but she didn't take her eyes off me. She was pleading with me, I could tell. "Take care of him." She said but I never once saw her lips move."_

_-Fatima_

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**I rewrote a lot of this to the music box version of "When Love Ends for the First Time." It really helped. If you want, go find it on Youtube and read it to the last journal entry. Review and no flames.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well as you probably already know, I do not own FFVII or any of its characters; they belong to their respective creators. Um, so don't send big burly men to arrest me or anything. **

**Scroll down to read and I hope you enjoy.**

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While I sat quietly on the cold metal examination table I began to recount everything that had happened up till now with distaste. "Dying would have been better than this." I thought. "This is the life of a lab rat." I then remembered the last request of a friend. It was a request I planned to honor.

I learned of a baby through rather…unconventional means and I knew exactly to whom he belonged. To put it simply, I wanted the child. The white-coats, Shinra, they did not deserve him so I was going to take him. Whenever they came to 'visit' me, poke me, prod me, I had but one question.

"Please, can I see the baby?"

Sephiroth is what they had named him and how I knew of him was none of their concern. At first they had refused to let me near him but I was persistent in asking for him whenever they came to feed me. Hojo, who I wanted to rip apart limb from bloody limb, was one of the scientist that came often to check on me.

I played dumb and let them think I was still pretty much brain dead. Eventually they let me see Sephiroth under the condition that I obeyed whatever order they gave and did not fight them. For years I endured and they all believed they had me wrapped tightly around their fingers

They were _wrong_.

I would break away from them somehow and take Sephiroth with me, somewhere far away from this hell-hole. It would be my dream for the next six years and when the chance finally presented itself, I took it. I stole the boy and the both of us disappeared. Hojo did not spend all that time making me into a _thing _for nothing. _I'm_ not sure how far we went but I did not care.

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I ran till my legs begged me to stop just for a moment and rest. I held tightly to Seph's tiny hand while he stumbled a bit and called out to me. I pulled him up into my arms and ran faster into the darkness.

We were so far away now.

I was hoping that it took a while for Shinra to realize I was gone. "Tima," mumbled a small voice. I looked down and smiled at the head of white hair huddle against my breast "Where are we going?"

I wasn't exactly sure where we were going either but I knew I had to answer. "We're going anywhere but here." I replied and tightened my grip on the little body in my arms. I wasn't going to let them get their hands on him again.

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"Tima, look!" cried Sephiroth. I smiled and walked towards him from the woods. He held in his hands a small oval-shaped, red stone. It had a smooth surface and it looked like it had been polished. He held it out toward me happily. "Tima, I got it for you." He said grinning widely. My smile brightened. "That's sweet of you." I said smoothing my fingers through his shoulder length hair. I had the perfect leather cord and clasp for it. I took hold of his hand and took the stone in my other. "Come with me." I said. "I have the perfect thing for it."

I lead him into the small but cozy home hidden in the woods. When we escaped we came across a man named Henry, who ran a bar and inn for weary travelers. He took pity on us and helped build a house in return for working a full time job at his bar as a waitress. It was a simple two story house with a cellar. I had also gotten some green contacts and my hair was cut to just a little past my shoulders.

I took Sephiroth into my room and told him to have a seat while I looked for my old wooden jewelry box. Eventually I found what I was looking for. Pulling the leather cord from the box, I fixed a small silver ring into the hole and then put it on the cord, sealing the gaps with my fingers. I held it up to him for approval and he nodded with vigor. Clasping it behind my neck, I fingered the little stone. "Thank you." I said before bending down to kiss him on the cheek.

"Now it's time for bed." I chirped with a giggle. He pouted and crossed his arms. "Aww man, but sis!" he whined but I shushed him. "No buts." I stood to my full height and pointed to the bathroom with my hand on my hip. He gave me one more pout complimented by a trembling lower lip then obeyed. I shook my head and watched him go.

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Walking briskly through the slightly chilly morning air, the sun not yet peeking over the trees, I hurried to the inn. I pulled the door open and rushed to the employee's back room where I threw my coat on the rack and took a minute to check myself in the mirror. My hair was pulled back in a messy bun at the nape of my neck and little strands framed my face. I nodded approvingly and went out the door into the kitchen to grab a silver platter.

The little bell at the top of the door jingle and I plastered on a smile. "Good morning, table for two?" I chirped. It was pretty quiet so early in the morning but I knew that as the day went on it would get really crowded. Soon we had people coming in, left and right, Henry yelling orders, customers talking and other men and women rushing by. I sighed, hoping the day would speed up.

"Tima, go help the new girl!" yelled Henry from his place behind the bar. I huffed setting the last of the plates in my arms down and complied. Sariss was the said new girl. She was small and pretty, her head only coming to just below my shoulder, with tan skin, bright baby-blue eyes and unnaturally green hair that she insisted was natural.

"Right…" I mumbled making my way over to her. She struggled to steady a stack of plates in each hand and I knew I needed to pick up the pace before she tripped. Sariss stumbled and one of the plates fell but I caught it and took some of the rest from her, balancing them with ease. "Thanks." She sighed with relief. I smiled in return and nodded. "No problem." The bell above the door jingled again and I didn't like what I saw next.

Five men dressed in dusty clothes walked in. They eyed the people around them and some of the other women who shuddered and skittered away. I frowned at them but turned away and continued to work. Things were okay until I heard the sound of glass shattering. One of the men had wrapped his arm around Sariss's waist and pulled her against him.

"That's not what I asked." He ground out grabbing her chin and turning her face toward his. "But don't worry darlin' there's something else you can do for me." He chuckled. I laid my rag down and walked over. "Let her go." I said calmly. He smiled a wicked smile at me and tightened his grip on her. "Sure." He laughed kissing her cheek.

"But you have to come here and take her place." I folded my arms against my chest and shifted all my weight my right leg. "Fine." I snapped. He shoved her toward me and she stumbled a bit before I caught her by the shoulders. The man motioned for me to come to him and I complied with a scowl.

When I was close enough he grabbed my wrist and yanked me harshly towards him. I stared at him then shifted my eyes to Henry who had snuck up behind him. Smirking, I easily twisted my wrist out of his grip and grabbed his own. He struggled, prying at my fingers and cursing my but I didn't let up my grip. I tightened my grip and a loud crack sounded in the air bringing with it a tense silence before all hell broke loose again.

My smile became sinister as he screamed shrilly in pain. One of his buddies started to come over to help but Henry caught him across the back of the head with a bat. A brawl suddenly broke out in the bar. I took the man and tossed him out the door then I tossed the rest of his gang out on their asses. "And don't come back!" I yelled punching my left hand with the opposite. They scrambled to get up hobble away as I laughed and shut the door.

Henry had already broken up the brawl and the girls were laughing and grinning. "Wow, that was cool!" yelled Sariss. "It was nothing." I said starting to clean up the mess. I began wiping down the bar, humming softly as I worked. "Your voice is pretty." said Sariss, popping up right beside me with a smile. "Thank you." I said.

Over the next month Sariss and I had become good friends. Seph liked her too and she would watch him for me sometimes. I walked quietly down the dirt path from the diner with the evening sun's warmth at my back and the sound of my own footsteps. It was peaceful but something felt… strange.

It was too quiet and noticed that there was not a single animal anywhere for miles. "How the hell could I have missed that?" I whispered to myself and started to jog home. I sighed when I opened the door and closed it behind me. I pressed my back against it and slid down into a squatting position, feeling almost as if I wanted to cry.

My eyes snapped open then noticing something was missing. "Sephiroth?" I called realizing that the small white haired boy had not come to greet me at the door like he usually did when I got home from work. "Sephiroth!" I called again running upstairs to check his room.

He wasn't there.

I dashed back down the stairs and flung the front door open only to sigh in relief when I saw him coming out of the woods. The feeling dissolved into anger after a moment when I realized where he'd been. When he noticed me he jumped, almost dropping whatever it was he was dragging behind him. "Get in here!" I hollered watching him cringe and then scramble over to me.

"What did I tell you about leaving the house when I'm not home?" I said cupping his cheeks in my hands. "You nearly scared me to death." He frowned at how upset I was and looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry Tima." I sighed shaking my head. "Get inside." I said ushering him in. I shut the door and dropped down to his level, taking the sack from his trembling fist. "Pack your things."

He stared at me for a moment, processing my words. "W-What, Why?" he stammered. "But I don't wanna leave! I don't wanna go I-" I cut him off by gripping his shoulders. "Don't talk back to me." I said harshly and he shut his mouth with a click. "You do as I say." His lips trembled then he whipped around and ran up the stairs.

I watched him go then I ran out the door to the cellar. When I returned carrying two handguns and a dagger I ran upstairs and started to pack myself. We didn't have much so it wouldn't be a hassle. When I was finished he was already pulling his bag down the stairs. He set it down with a sorrowful look and tried one more time to argue with me but I silenced him with a pointed look.

It had gotten dark by the time we were and everything was quiet. "Be silent." I whispered. They were almost here. "We have to leave." As soon as the words had left my mouth an onslaught of bullets shot through the glass windows, sending us sprawling across the floor.

Sephiroth let out a small cry of fear but I covered his mouth and hauled him up. I dashed out the back door with him and swung him onto my back. We had gotten pretty far away from the house before a searing pain shot through my leg and Sephiroth cried out. I stumbled losing my grip on him as another shell tore open my side. "You idiots!" someone cried from within the woods.

I pushed myself up on my elbows and tried to crawl towards the hurt and crying boy who lay prone with a gash in his leg from a bullet. A foot jabbed itself into my back stopping me inches away from him. "The woman can take a bullet but if the kid dies it'll be our asses!" yelled a man who then gave the offender a nasty blow to the jaw.

I used the distraction to my advantage and, using sharp nails, dug into the leg of the man who held me down with his foot, tearing the tender flesh. Little drops of blood splattered my face and he cried out sharply toppling over and freeing me. I stood and tried to make a move for Seph, clawing anyone who got in my way but I stumbled and another bullet took me down the rest of the way.

It caught me in my left shoulder leaving a nice hole about the size of a golf ball. Gasping in pain, the one who had shot me made it worse by stepping on my injured shoulder. He yanked me up by my hair and sneered. "Little bitch." He tightened his grip painfully. "You have no idea how much trouble you've caused us." He shook me harshly for good measure and I opened one eye to glare at him.

"Fuck you." I spat, smirking defiantly. His expression darkened and then, with a motion of his hand, one of the men went behind me. There was a sharp pain in the back of my head and a flash of white before my face hit the dirt. I heard Seph calling but I couldn't work up the will to answer his cries.

I let the darkness claim me.

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**R&R! It's good for the soul.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I bring you more! Yes! Woot, woot!**

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I was in so much pain.

I was in more pain than anything I've ever physically felt before when I awoke inside a glass water filled cage. There was a lady peering in at me, a scientist I'm sure. I think I startled her when I opened my eyes but I did not keep them open very long. I wanted to but I just couldn't.

I awoke later, still in pain, and being watched. The woman sat in front of me, on a chair with a clipboard and pen. She looked sad to me, like she honestly did not want to be there anymore than I did. It was truly a shared feeling. One day, she drained the liquid from my tank and let me out. My hair was so long it dragged the floor when I stumbled out of the tank on unsteady legs.

I was both stunned and afraid but she didn't do anything. No, she didn't do anything to me but speak softly as if I were a child and, oddly enough, tell me stories about past experiences and events going on outside my steel prison. I was happy to hear them though I never spoke in return.

She said she was happy to find someone to talk to that was as good a listener as I. She was so enthusiastic and would sometimes even manage to make me laugh. I think she liked it when I laughed. I do not think she had many people to talk to. She seemed like such a lonely young lady. Her hazel eyes and cat eyed glasses suited her with mousy brown hair and smiles that practically lit up her face.

I could tell she didn't smile often because she had almost no smile lines around her mouth. "Maybe one day you'll be free from here." She said. I looked at her. "Do you think you could come with me?" I asked. It was the first time I had spoken to her and the smile she gave me in return nearly stole my breath away.

_Her name was Lola_.

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I remember having a quiet talk with her in the dim lab when an explosion rocked the building. The force of it knocked Lola off her feet and the ceiling came down around us. I sat up, pushing flaming debris off of me, and began to frantically search for her in the rubble. It didn't take me long to find her lying face down with a beam pining her to the floor.

I began to haul the metal off of her, ignoring the horrible screech of it as I threw it carelessly and lifted her into my arms with surprising ease. I ignored the blood coating us both and tried to smile.

"Tima…" she whispered and I couldn't help but think of how this reminded me of some two-bit movie. I told her so and we both managed to laugh through our tears. Weakly, she pointed to a metal door automated door. I hesitated when another blast shook the building and the metal began to wail loudly but eventually took her too it. It slid open and then closed with a hiss behind me, bathing us in silence.

On a pedestal of steal set a metal briefcase with a touch pad. She pressed her bloody, mangled hand to the pad and it began to glow a soft blue before gears began to turn, snapping and unlocking.

The case popped open.

There was an outfit inside and two guns. "You'll need it." She whispered. "You're free to run." I locked eyes with her at that moment and knew that she wouldn't be able to come with me. I set her against the wall and went up to the case to pull out my clothes.

The top was a black, backless leotard made of some kind of tough, padded material. There were black pants of the same material. I pulled it all on along with a leather jacket and strapped the very nice, custom made, dual guns onto my thighs. I pulled one out and looked at the intricate silver engraving running up the sides.

It had three materia slots on the barrel just like the other but the engravings on the one on my left thigh were gold "How original." I thought sarcastically but I had to admit, they were nice. Slipped on a pair of double-buckled boots and lastly, to my amusement, a pair of fingerless gloved.

Another explosion penetrated the silence of the room and shook the building. I holstered my gun quickly, scooped up Lola and burst through the door with my foot. Everything outside the doorway was ablaze but I ignored it in favor of running. I shot down the halls, jumping flames and holding Lola's limp form to me. "You should leave me." She whispered.

I heard her clearly. "I'm not leaving you to die in a place like this." I snapped, kicking debris to the side. I continued to run, willing my still weakened legs to pick up the pace. My lungs were starting to hurt from the smoke.

I ran up the stairs and when they crumbled before me I jumped them. I finally found my exit and nearly tripped and fell from relief but I kept running. I was half laughing when I started to slow down and take a breather

I remember something telling me to look down. There was an agonizing clench in my heart but I ignored it. "Lola?" I called, shaking her gently.

She didn't respond.

"Lola, hey Lola we made it out! Lola look, wake up!" I cried taking a quick look at the skies.

Nothing.

I slumped to the ground with her cradled in my arms unable to register the blood dripping down my chin from my right eye in some twisted mockery of tears.

Everything was burning up around me but I could not bring myself to care. After a time of just sitting still, I finally started walking again and managed to find the people who had been evacuated. I left Lola with their dead without notice, knowing that they would give her a proper burial.

Wiping ash, blood, and tears from my face, I realized that I was on my way again. I didn't even really know where I was and honestly I didn't care. I just wanted to leave. I turned back to look at the smoke I could see from far away, rising from the burning city. My heart began to ache in my chest and I had to run to keep myself from breaking down.

I wandered from place to place after that. I had found some cloth to wrap around my head and cover my eye till it stopped bleeding but it was very painful to use and I preferred to keep it closed constantly. After inspecting it one day with a piece of broken glass, I found that it was no longer gold like my left but red.

I later ran into a girl one day out in the wilderness who said her name was Aeris. She was pretty with bright green eyes and long brown hair that she kept high in a braid bound with a big pink bow. Her gown was pink just like her bow and she wore a cropped, short-sleeved, red jacket, brown hiking boots and three silver bracelets on each wrist.

There was an odd aura about her, something pure and comforting. I would always wear a long hooded cloak to shield my identity from her but she knew I was female. She was kind and always insisted I meet her group of friends, AVELANCHE. I would always refuse though because I was only comfortable talking to her.

Eventually, I stopped seeing her. I learned of her death much later on but what truly saddened me was the mention of her killer.

"Sephiroth,"

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**Review~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay people, I know I've been kind of a meanie head with getting my chappies up and I'm sorry! School is EVIL, EVIIIIIIIL! *gets hit with a materia* Anyway enjoy! I own nothing that belongs to Square. E.**

**-Kitty**

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Two years since then…two years since Meteor.

I don't know what became of AVALANCHE nor do I know what to do with myself now. I have just been wandering across the land until the day I found _it_.

Sephiroth's sword appeared before me from nowhere like a dream. At first, honestly, I had been afraid to pick it up but I knew it belonged to him. I could feel it. An invisible hand touched the small of my back and urged me forward.

I had gotten a glimpse of him before in the vision Lucrecia had shown me. I had seen this very sword in his hands, I remembered. It was a beautiful, sheathless seven foot long katana. After finding it I did jobs here in there so I wasn't completely without money. where I was going to get a sheath for the blade to keep it safe flitted through my thoughts as I hugged the sword to my breast. "Sephiroth-" I whispered longingly. "My poor boy," The wind blew my hair and ruffled my jacket.

I left in search of a place to suit my needs. I asked around for anyone who might know a good blacksmith and had wrapped the katana in an old ragged cloth I had found to keep it from prying eyes. "Please, do you know anyone who might be able to help me?" They pointed towards a decidedly old house. "The old blacksmith lives there." said a young man. "He doesn't take jobs from just anyone but he's reliable." I nodded my thanks and headed to see the old blacksmith.

When I reached the old weather-beaten house I pulled the hood of my cloak down further over my face and took to the old fashion knocker. I yanked it up and let it drop about three times before I heard movement form inside. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" yelled a dry sandpapery voice. An old man opened the door frowning. "What do you want?" he asked wetting his dry lips.

His hair was wiry and greying in places but his old grey eyes were sharp "Sir," I began "I need a sheath for a katana." His dark eyebrows knitted together. "You and every other kid fond of dangerous toys, now get!" He went to shut the door in my face but I put my foot out and held it.

"Please, I could pay you well." I said through the crack of the door and I pulled my hood off hoping to work the puppy dog eyes on him. Something flashed in his eyes but I wasn't quite sure what and for a long time the old man stared at me. I stood nervously waiting for him to send me away or something. "…Come in." he said finally, stepping away from the threshold.

I stood quietly in his workshop, eyeing the swords hanging on the walls. I handed him the cloth wrapped sword when he held out his hand to inspect it and his eyes widened. "This is…I'd heard of this." He looked to me. "This ain't the real thing, it couldn't be." I did not answer him. "So it is real…" He murmured and drew his lips together in a thin line. "Come back in three weeks. I'll have it by then"

I nodded and thanked him before turning to leave. I left the small old town and its people and found my way to Midgar. The city was so sickly now. I walked the streets taking in the sights of adults and children craning in alleys, wrapped in bandages, slouching and dying. I had heard about the stigma from travelers. It invaded your body and ate at it leaving greyish wounds that were painful. I could feel it myself if I brushed passed an infected person.

I continued to walk aimlessly down the grey sidewalks and continuous crowds of pale and equally grey people. My feet lead me to a bar called 'Seventh Heaven'.

"Odd." I mused. After seeing the sorry state that the city was in the name just seemed so very unfitting. After a moment of staring at the sign, I walked in. It didn't have many people in it at the moment but bars usually didn't this time of day if I remember correctly. That didn't stop every person present to snap their head in my direction and stare.

Some eyes traveled to the two guns strapped to my thighs I noticed. My one visible eye scanned the room and found one seat right up at the bar counter and I took it without a second thought. The pretty dark haired bar tender walked up to me and took a glass from under the bar.

"What'll it be?" she asked with a practiced smile. I looked her over. She was beautiful with mid-back length hair, pale skin and wine colored eyes. She wore some type of leather outfit that consisted of a zip up, sleeveless top, cargos and a half skirt.

Whenever she turned her head or moved, two small, silver, tear-drop earrings glistened in the light like little pieces of glass in the desert. "I'll have a little wine." I said. I could hold my liquor but I have to be in a certain mood for the hard stuff. She nodded and walked off to fill my order and I once again felt the many eyes boring intro my back.

I couldn't really blame them for staring. All decked out in black, brown skin, black hair so long it touched the floor as I sat in my stool and a bandage wrapped around my head to cover my right eye, I'd stare too.

The bartender returned and put my drink down in front of me. She rest her elbows on the bar and set her head on her left fist. "You're not from around here are you?" she asked. I looked at her and she looked behind me and glared until I felt the eyes leave my back. She put her wine colored gaze on me again and smiled. "No." I said and took a swig from the glass. I stared into my glass and swished my drink around. "I'm a wanderer, that's all."

* * *

I left Midgar after a few days and wandered around until 3 week were up. The old man's lips curled into a proud smile when I showed up at his doorstep. It was familiar to me but I brushed it off. He handed me the sword and I inspected the sheath. It was beautifully made, black, simple, long and elegant.

It was polished till your reflection was visible and that was pretty much it besides the polished silver one inch wide ring around it where the guard met the sheath. It seemed that the hilt and the blade itself had been cleaned and polished as well.

"This is beautiful," I said. "-and very subtle, it's prefect." He smiled broadly at my admiration, the corners of his eyes wrinkling then coughed into his fist. "Hmph, well you probably have places to go so get going." He said returning to his gruff demeanor again. I laughed and went to pull out my money pouch from my jacket but he stopped me.

"Don't worry about it." He said. "But I-" I began, not feeling right at letting him do all this work with no pay. "Keep your money, kid." He said without room argument. I frowned, thanked him again and we said our goodbyes.

"Take care of yourself." He said. I nodded and donned my black cloak again, ready to leave. I wandered around the landscape and eventually found myself at an old church that had seen better days. There were cracked columns all around, broken stain glass windows, and plants growing freely from the floor but despite all that it felt…safe I couldn't stay for long though for it seemed someone was living here. I could smell it and I saw the chests and roll-out bed on the floor near the bed of yellow and white bed of flowers,

I froze when I heard footsteps behind me. "Who are you?" said a low voice. I turned slowly to find a man standing just beyond the pews at the door. "You-" He whispered in bewilderment then eyed the sword cradled to my breast. I fled the church in a flurry of black before he could ask any other questions and somehow managed to end up in the Sleeping Forest just as pain began to overtake my right eye.

Stumbling towards the edge of the water, I clutched my eye as it began to ooze blood through the bandages. I cried out sharply and tore it away, leaning over the waters and staring in. I reached up and forcefully opened my eye wide and stared at my reflection. My eye moved frantically in its socket unable to lock onto any one spot for more than a second and I wanted nothing more than to take something and claw it right out.

That church, that man, this forest, it was all too much for me to handle for some reason. I screamed and clawed at the dirt before fleeing again to parts unknown. I could have sworn I felt eyes watching my back.

I ended up in Midgar again after I managed to get a hold of myself and had also found some bandages to rewrap it with. "Leave her alone!" cried the voice of a boy child from inside an alley. Unable to abate my curiosity, I followed the voice from the gutters above. A boy with mussed brown hair and pale skin stood protectively in front of a small girl. She hid behind him, fisting her little white sleeveless turtleneck top and knee skirt.

She had brown hair tied into a braid down her back with a faded pink ribbon and big brown doe eyes. The kids picking on them were much older, teenagers really so I made short work of them. I was somewhat impatient today but I didn't hurt them too bad.

"You shouldn't pick on those weaker than you." I said firmly, twisting a ratty boy's arm just enough to get my point across. I pushed him forward making him stumble then he and the rest of them took off.

"Thanks." said the boy softly. "Are you kids alright?" I asked. They both nodded. "We're fine." said the girl with a smile which I returned. "Come on, I'll walk ya home." I said starting off and expecting them to follow. They hesitated for a bit then caught up, moving in front of me so they could lead the way. "Pretty lady?" said the girl "I'm Marlene and this is Denzel, what's your name?" The boy gave her a look but I smiled again anyway. "Fatima." I said. "That's pretty." She replied, musing with a finger to her lips.

* * *

Once we were standing outside of 'Seventh Heaven' I gave them an odd look. "You kids live in a bar?" They nodded. "It kind of doubles as a small Inn." said Denzel. I hummed and followed the kids inside. "Tifa!" cried Marlene as they ran into the bar to greet the pretty bartender who, after hearing her name, emerged from the back wiping her hands on a cloth.

"Where have you two been?" she huffed setting the cloth down. "You should have been home an hour ago." I was guessing she was their mother and I noted that the boy had eyes like that man with the spiky blonde hair but I wasn't going to jump to conclusions.

She finally noticed me standing patiently by the counter. "We ran into some trouble Tifa but she helped us out." said Marlene gesturing to me. Tifa finally noticed me and smiled. "Can I get you something to drink, Fatima?" I chuckled and walked up to the seat I had occupied before. "A little wine would be nice." She nodded and went off to get me what I wanted. "You know Tifa?" asked Marlene. "Yeah, a little bit." I replied.

The kids had gone upstairs by the time Tifa had come back. Denzel's Geostigma was bothering him again. Tifa sighed looking at the stairs. "I wanted to thank you again." She said. I shook my head to stop her. "Nope, it was no problem at all. They're nice kids, maybe one day I could take for some ice cream."

Tifa smiled at me. "Ya know, I think they'd like that.

Henry the old blacksmith had just seen a ghost. Fatima had been missing for years and then here she comes, showing up on his doorstep with that lunatic's sword cradled in her arms. She wasn't a day older than she had been the last time he'd seen her from what he could tell, and her little brother Seph who had taken to calling her big sister…

Henry sighed heavily, rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Gaea…" He mumbled. He was lucky that when his business was destroyed he'd had a profession to fall back on. He looked out into the woods around his house from his chair on the porch. It was then he noticed a pouch off to his right on the wooden banister.

It was black velvet and fat. He gingerly picked it up and untied the draw strings. The damn thing was full of gil. He sighed again then smiled. He started to chuckle lightly at first then went into full out laughter till moisture had gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"You take care of yourself Tima."

* * *

**review people, it helps.**


	5. Author's Note

**Dear readers,**

**You may or may not want to go back and reread the chapters previous to this because of changes to a few things. You may just want to get familiar with it again. I'm trying to make this story better than it was.**

**Honestly, I'm not satisfied with it but I couldn't bear to just delete everything. I'm open to suggestions. I may or may not use them but they would be greatly appreciated. **

**Thank you.**

**~Kitty **


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